The Results Are In…

Hackabee, in a straw poll, whomped Romney and all the other candidates by a large margin. The general consensus seems to be that Obama, and perhaps Edwards, benefited from “second choice” recommendations, since the top three Democrats all received 30% or more.

In any case, the race is far from over. The Republico-punditry seems desperate to claim that McCain and Giuliani still have a chance to win, despite their extremely poor showing in Iowa. (Ron Paul, this year’s Ross Perot, got much higher numbers than either of those “major” candidates, but shockingly, Chris Matthews doesn’t seem to think he has a manly enough scent to be discussed.) The Democratic folks (especially Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC) are ecstatic about the strength of the candidates; the amazing turnout, which ended up being double that of the Republics; and the undeniably exciting and historic nature of Obama’s win.

Considering the complete lack of discussion in the media about Edwards, his showing was quite strong. I’m disappointed that Edwards didn’t come in first, but I still think he will end up being the Democratic nominee.